Effects of Online Christian Self-Disclosure on Impression Formation

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Issue Date

2010-09-01

Author

Bobkowski, Peter S.

Kalyanaraman, Sriram

Publisher

Wiley

Type

Article

Article Version

Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript

Rights

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Effects of Online Christian Self-Disclosure on Impression Formation, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2010.01522.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.

Metadata

Abstract

Increased reliance on social media to initiate and maintain relationships warrants research that investigates how religion affects Internet-based impressions. Evidence suggests that some Christians avoid identifying religiously online to prevent unfavorable evaluations by those with whom they interact on the Internet. This experiment examined the effects of online Christian disclosure. Respondents (N = 233) viewed a fictional social networking profile containing one of three levels of Christian disclosure frequency: none, nominal, and extensive. There was conflicting evidence for a direct association between Christian disclosure and impressions. Regardless of disclosure level, however, religious respondents rated profile owners as more likeable and with less negative stereotypes, than less religious respondents. Most notably, respondent religiosity moderated impressions. The least religious respondents tended to rate the extensively disclosing Christian as least romantically desirable and as most representative of negative stereotypes. The most religious respondents rated this individual as most likeable and as most romantically desirable. Effects of nominal disclosure showed little association with respondent religiosity, suggesting that nominal disclosure may constitute a socially acceptable level of online Christian disclosure. Respondents made few distinctions between nondisclosure and nominal disclosure, and Christian identity tended to be assumed when not disclosed, which also illustrated the low relevance of Christian nominal disclosure as an identity marker.